About Us

The bennettlab is based at the Harvard School of Public Health and in the Center for Community-Based Research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Our work is focused on developing strategies to prevent obesity in high risk populations. Our research program has three major themes: 1) use of new media technologies to deliver obesity interventions; 2) examining the impact of social contextual factors on obesity and physical inactivity, and; 3) exploring the dissemination of evidence-based interventions. Many of our ongoing research studies are based in the primary care setting, where efficacious obesity intervention approaches are particularly necessary. A major focus of our work is health disparities and we're heavily invested in understanding why rates of obesity vary by a range of demographic characteristics. Underlying all of our research is the goal of developing empirically supported solutions that can be used to reduce obesity in the US population.

Latest Lab News

Archive for October, 2008

New obesity intervention study

We recently received a grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK; 1R01DK078798) designed to test the efficacy of an intervention to prevent the transition to obesity among overweight women. The grant will use a socioculturally-appropriate approach, delivered to participants through several new media modalities over an 18-month period.

Read more about the study here.